Skiing near Pincher Creek AB

Asterisk

Asterisk

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I'm going out to Pincher Creek this march break to visit some family but during this time I'd also like to ski a little bit. Is there any skiing nearby? I see "Castle Mountain" and I was wondering how that is. Anybody know what other options I have? I probably won't touch too much park but I guess maybe a run or two. I'm from out east so I guess I'll have the time of my life regardless of where I go but I'd still like to know what my best options are.

Thanks

 
Is one noticibly better than the other? Or is it worth my time to visit both.

Also what do you suggest I do for powder skis? Can you demo/rent them?
 
Fernie has a pretty sweet demo shop from what I remember. I'm pretty sure I saw pontoons and seth's for demoing.
 
This past season was my first time going to both Castle Mountain and Fernie. I personally prefer castle because it has a good park if you get bad conditions and I find the terrain much more fun. If you get a good snow day it will all be skied out by 10:30 although the first hour and a half is always epic. If you don't get any snow Fernie can get pretty boring from what I have skied there. Its all pretty mellow, no steep lines or good drops (besides one small 10 footer right by the timber chair.) If you can find someone who knows the mountain well there are some really good places to hike to but that takes a lot of time. Also if you're skiing there for more than 2 days you will probably end up wanting to kill yourself because the mountain is swarming with untold amounts of gapers and weekend warriors who think the only usable ski on the mountain are Obsetheds and Bent Chetlers. If you do manage to find a good group of people to ski with then it should be fine, you'll probably end up ripping on half the people on the mountain which is fun.

Castle on the other hand has fewer big snow dumps that I am aware of but has way more stashes you can find all season long. I was up there for a competition and managed to find a run that was almost completely untouched and was a joy to ride over and over. It also has a good amount of terrain that you can hike to within ten minutes along with some stuff farther away. Its a super fun mountain to shred with friends because it has a lot of natural airs everywhere along with some signs that are wide open for tapping. I think it would really fun on a pow day. They also have a good park, none of the jumps are very big but they are well built and have decent sized gaps. The rails and jibs there are also very fun.

I'm pretty sure there are people here who know more about Fernie than I do however my experience of skiing there for a three day weekend was pretty bad even though one of the nights it snowed 30cm. You will probably have fun at either hill, I just think castle is a better mountain.
 
well if you are there on a demo day you pretty much just give them your credit card/id so you don't run away with their skis and you can take whatever you want out for a spin. but most ski towns will have shops that carry rental skis and you just go in and they will set you up. usually about 40 dollars a day i would say.
 
castle is tight because they don't really have half as many people as fernie, but Castle is pretty windy somedays, and that brings out the ice. Fernie has dope Glade skiing, and i like the terrain there. also a thing with Castle, the chairs are very slow, which really shortens the amount of runs you can do, so just remember that if you get a pow filled day
 
My first time to Castle last season was march 3rd after the big 3 day storm that dropped over a meter (CLAIM) and it was one of the best days of skiing i've ever had. Very little people and no beginners that fall all over the place.
 
Thing about fernie, like most hills, is you have to know where to ski. Stick to the ridges and the old side (boom chair and haul back tbar)if you're looking for steep deep and gaper free. It's a little more work because it involves lots of traversing but so very worth it. They should also have a brand new chair running which accesses some pretty sweet terrain which used to be awesome bootpack lines (kinda sad about that actually). think the new chairs called polar peak...
 
the old side is only gaper free if its not advertised to gapers

and you should check out pass powderkeg instead dude, no people, no lines, huge snow, no wind, epic park and long runs. Right in the beautiful and historic crowsnest pass.
 
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